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Some years ago I met someone (we dated for a while) that was a very independent and free thinking individual, except for one thing--she had grown up in the LDS. And, the LDS still had her psychologically and emotionally tethered and would not let go of her.
I began to study (books and online) all the beliefs of the Mormons, particularly the absurdities of their founder who was a convicted con man before he discovered the "religion angle". We read and discussed many of those blasphemous revelations together and she began to quickly see that she was being "played" (her term).
The more she broke away, the more the local Mormon church devotees staged meetings and interventions and all manner of button pushing, subtle coercion and guilt ensued.
What struck me like a thunderbolt was the virtually perfect parallels between the cults of LDS and Scn.
The deception of the LDS is another thread entirely, but relevant to this thread are certain profoundly well hidden, yet simple, revelations I will never forget. I have never reduced it to writing before, but I'll try to make a very brief run at it and see if that works. In trying to identify the basic mechanisms that LDS used to grow itself, I learned much about Hubbard's hoax, such as:
1) Ludicrous Lies: This describes the beginnings of Joseph Smith's "revelations" which came to him by putting his head inside a hat and using a magic stone, while others took dictation of sacred messages from God. Just before Smith figured out this scam, he was perpetrating the identical con game by bilking local famers/ranchers for which he was arrested.
2) Layering: The church gained traction, naturally, by elaborately hiding its true origins, thus burying the truth inside of densely packed misdirection and dead ends.
3) Leverage: What cult would be complete without the ability to control the minds and hearts of its devotees. A good start is always terrorizing individuals with burning in hell forever or "losing their eternity".
4) Legitimacy: This (religious/church status) is one of the best cult tactics that receives little attention because--one learns in society never to "attack" or "abridge" the sacred concept of "Religious Freedom".
That last one ("legitimacy") is particularly fascinating because it prevents non-believers or former members ("apostates") from speaking directly about how ridiculous many of these religious hoaxes are. By way of example, let's assume today (2014) that one of ESMB's members began a thread about how they (and they alone) had discovered the secrets of God and the universe--by putting their head in a hat and using magically powered "seer stones". After this individual began making thundering announcements of who on this board was going to be "saved" and who was being sent to hell (for disobeying his messianic dogma), the members here would very quickly tear that thread (and its guru) apart in a maelstrom of rejection & ridicule.
Isn't that why L. Ron Hubbard put his own head in his hat (Pack) and channeled the word of God in declaring the "High Crime" of "joking & degrading"?
The point I think I want to make, above all others, is the extraordinary lengths that any cult will go in order to hide its astonishingly stupid origins. The continuous layering behind legitimate sounding/appearing facades prevent the world from dismissing the entire religious racket without giving it a second thought. Consider, if you will, that a door-to-door salesman was in your neighborhood and you got a knock one day. He offered to find precious oil on your property for a modest fee. . .
Then (after being paid) he used "seer stones" to divine where your earthly rewards could be found underground. Naturally, no oil was located but that didn't stop the intrepid swindler from hustling away yours (and your many neighbors) hard earned trust and money. Eventually, you read in the newspaper that he was arrested and sent to prison.
Now, what if a few weeks after that someone else knocked on your door with the same ludicrous proposition? You would mercilessly boot them off your property, right?
That's LDS and Scientology without the
layering and
legitimacy ruses.
It's a joke. A cruel hoax.
I don't think these kind of cloaked criminal enterprises merit any special care of respect as "religions".
I say all these things in the face of the LDS and Scientology God, may they strike me dead if I am wrong. And I do so without the spiritual protections afforded to me by wearing
magical underwear.
Yeah, okay, I am going to hell
for making fun of holy temple garments.
So I'm going to hell, so what?